Surface-contact electric-railway system.



W, M/BRIOWN; summon CONTACT ELECTRIC RAILWAY SYSTEM.

. APPLIOATION FILED FEB. 20, 1905. 930,614.

Patented Aug. 10, 1909. SHEETS-SHEET 1.

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W. M. BROWN. .SURFACE CONTACT ELECTRIC RAILWAY SYSTEM.

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APPLICATION FILED FEB.20,1905.

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WILLIAM MILTON BROWN, OF JOHNSTOWN, PENNSYLVANIA, ASSIQ NOR TO THE LORAIN STEEL COMPANY, A CORPORATION OF PENNSYLVANIA;

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Aug. 10, 1909..

Application filed February 20, 1905. Serial No. 2 16,436.

' the contact boxes so that adjacent boxes can be spanned by the current collecting shoe, without placing them so near the track rails as to cause the liability of a circuit being established between the box and rail. 1 1

My present invention is designed to providc means for'overconiing this difiiculty in a satisfactory manner, and it consists in the provision of auxiliary Contact devices or studs electrically connected with the adjacent boxes, and so arranged as to be -en gaged and spanned by the current collector,

all substantially as hereinafter described and pointed out in the appended claims.

My invention will be better understood by reference to the accompanying drawing, in Which Figure 1 is a diagram of a main track hav' ing a turnout, the main and auxiliary contacts, the car magnets and the collector, the magnets and collector being slmwn in dolled lines. Fig. 2, is a vertical longitudinal section of Fig. 1 li'ig. 3, is a similar view showing the connection. between the main contact and the auxiliary contact; i 4., is a plan view of the auxiliary contact; Fig. 5, is a sectional view on the line V-V of 4.

In Fig. 1, the numerals 1, 2, 3, 4 and 5 designate the regular contact boxes of the road, 6, 6 the main track rails, 7, 7 the branch track rails, and 8,9, 10 and 11., the auxiliary contacts. It will be readily seen from this figure that, supposing the auxiliary contacts 8 and 10 of the main track and the contacts 9 and 11 of the branch track to be respectively, the proper distance apart to be spanned by a current collecting-device, that it would not be practicable to put the boxes 2, 3, 4 and 5 in the respective positions of said auxiliary contacts, for the reason that said boxes would then lie too close to the adjacent rails. Therefore, I separate the said boxes to such a distance that while they are still spanned by the car magnet or magnets G' whose pole pieces are usually longer than the collecting shoe II as can be seen by reference to Figs. 1 and 2, the main contacts 2, 3, 4 and are about the same distance from the rails as the auxiliary contacts 8, 9, 10 and 11. The contacts 2 and 4 are spanned by the car magnets G, but the collector is not long enough to span the main contacts 2 and 4, but is in contact with the auxiliary contacts 8 and 1.0. Each of these auxiliary contacts is electrically connected with the adjacent main contact, as indicated by a, so that when the circuit closer in the main box is operated by a car magnet to close the-circuit of said box, the adjacent auxiliary contact is connected in parallel with the main contact.

The auxiliary contacts may be of various forms, a suitable form being shown in Figs. 3, 4 and 5. In these figures, the letter A designates a stud having a hollow shank portion designed to be set or embedded in an insulating support J, and a head portion which supports and retains a separable, renewable contact piece B of conducting material. To retain this piece B on the'stud, it has the lateral recesses b, which embrace lugs b of the stud, with a filling c of some suitable retaining material, such as spelter. The conductor a which forms the electrical connectionwith the adjacent contact box, is led up through the hollow interior of the stud where it is held in contact with the contact piece B, by means of a sleeve D, carrying a binding screw d, and held in a nut E.

By reference to'Figs. 1 and 2, it will be readily understood that a car while passing lecting shoe H would clear either of these main contacts 2, 3, 4 or 5, the line current to the magnet G would be broken, and the armature in the succeeding main contact would drop, and the only way to pick up an armature in one of the succeeding main contac'ts, is to raise it bynieans of an indeand 2 is less than the length'of the collectinain contact 4. The succeeding Inain condescribed.

in which the cars areprovidedwith a circuitclosing magnet having an extended pole- The operation of a car running from left to being placed close to the rails.

pendentcurrent passing through the mag nets G, which would. raise the armature, and reestablish the line current: By the use of an auxiliary contact this will not occur.

right on the rails 6 and 6 -is as f0llows:-

The distance between main contacts 1 ing shoe H. Therefore, it would receive, current from the main contact 2 before it passed off of the main contact 1. In passingfroin main contact 2, to main contact 3, current will be collected from main contact 2', and its auxiliary contact 8.- Shortlyafter the main contact 2 is passed by the collecting shoe H, the magnets will cover main contact l, raise its armature, and connect main contact 4 and its au'xiliary contact 10 with the line current. The collecting shoe II will then be" in contact with the auxiliary contacts 8 and 10, and after passing off of the auxiliary contact 8, it will contact with tacts can be placed at a distance less than the length of the collecting shoe H'without As I have before stated, the auxiliary contact may be constn-icted in arious ways, and hence I do not wish to be limited to the speciiic device which I have herein shown and The arrangement of contacts herein shown and described is designed for use in connection with an electric railway system such as shown and described in. my Patent No 558,151, dated April 14th, 1896,

piece of sul'licient length to span two adjacent contact boxes, and also having acurrent-collecting shoe which-is of less length than the magnets.

Having thus described my invention, what I claimas new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent is I 1. In a surface contact electric railway, the combination with two contact boxes separated from each other by distance greater than the length of the-car current collecting device, but sulliciently closetogether to be spanned by the car magnet, of

an auxiliary contact device adjacent to one or bothof the said boxes and electrically connected there. *ith. l

2. In a surface contact electric system,

two tracks crossing at. an acute .ngle with relation to each other, main surface contacts for each of the tracks, auxiliary contacts of smaller surface area than. the main contacts,

and each of the auxiliary contacts in electrical connection with one of the main contacts, the auxiliary contact being in advance of the niain contact to which it is connected, so positioned that it is as remote from the crossing rail of the other track as its -main contact; substantially as described.

In a surface contact electric system, a

thr mgh-track, and a turn-out from the through track, one of the rails of the turn-out track crossing a rail of the through track, main surface contacts for the turn-out tracks, auxiliary contacts of smaller surface area than the main contacts, and each of the auxiliary contacts 'in electrical connection with one of the main contacts, the auxiliary contact being in advance of the main contact to which it is connected, and so positioned that it is as remote'from the crossing rail of the other track as its'main contact; substantially asdescribed.

4. In a surface contact electrical system, a through track, a turn-out from the through track, one of the rails of the turn-out track crossing a rail of the other track, main sur face contacts for the through 'track, n1ain surface contacts for the turn-out, two auxihary surface contacts of smaller surface area than the main contacts between two adja-' cent contacts each of the auxiliary contacts being in electrical connection with one of the main contacts, and the auxillary contacts being so positioned that they are as remote from the crossing rails of the two tracksas the main contacts to which they are connected; substantially as described.

In testimony whereof, I have ailixed my signature in presence of two witnesses.

WILLIAM MILTQN. BROWN. \Vitnesses I GEO. I-I. PARMELEE, H. WV. SMITH. 

